The Phillies have put together a nice eight game winning streak, putting themselves ten games over .500. It’s been awhile since the Phillies found themselves at that mark, but they are also closing in on the gap in the division and wild card (2.5 GB in the National League East; 1.5 GB in the Wild Card). Now, they have another ace on the mound, and facing a very sweep-able last place team. The Phillies even lucked out by not seeing Stephen Strasburg this series. Things keep getting better and better. Other teams should start to worry.

The last time the Phillies were in Washington, Roy Halladay made his Phillies debut. Now, another Roy will be doing the same. Newly acquired Roy Oswalt will make his first start as a Phillie, after waiving his no-trade clause in a trade that sent J.A Happ and two minor leaguers to Houston.

Oswalt is 6-12 this season, but don’t let that record fool you. The Astros are not a good team, and failed to give Oswalt run support. Hence why wins aren’t a good stat to use to determine how good a pitcher is. Oswalt has a good ERA of 3.42 and WHIP of 1.11. He averages about two walks, seven hits, and eight strikeouts per nine innings, having a respectable walks/strikeout ratio. He does not surrender the long ball often.

Oswalt finished in the top 5 in the Cy Young voting five times in his ten-year career. His repertoire consists of a fastball, curveball, changeup, and a slider. His curveball is his best off-speed pitch.

On the flip side, Craig Stammen goes for Washington. The 26-year old did not make it through six innings in his last five starts. He has struggled heavily against the Phillies, having an ERA over 15 in two starts.

Nine in a row would be sweet for the Phillies. Perhaps even sweeter because Roy Oswalt is a Phillie, and at a steal.

Your gameday beer: Yeah man. Here’s Dogfish 90 Minute IPA. The 90 Minute is a sterling beer, flavorful and not overly strong in taste. But it hits you, and it hits you hard. It’s 9 percent, so it gets you good after a few. Drink with caution. And eat some mussels with it. — By TimGO PHILLIES!

Color wise I like dibble more than Wheeler. Dibble can be very tough on the nats. the play by play guy for the nats is the worst. But I have no choice the black out the non hometown feed. since I live 15 miles from DC I get the Nats feed only.

WOW put dobbs at third. I questioned that as soon as I saw the line up.
Dibble called that as bad a play as you will EVER see in the major leagues. i wonder is Wheels was critical.
Roy O. welcome to the keystone cops I guess.

what are you talking about bureacuratist. get your mom home before 10. we stole this guy. nerves tonight. better then happ. much better. plus 11 million. we wont have to pay him 20 plus million a year like lee.

You’re dreaming, Jeff. I lived in Houston 2008-09 seasons, and Texas for a decade before that, following the Astros (second to the Phillies) that whole time. He’s a hick. He’s not mentally tough. How do you think the fans and media are going to react to this outing tonight? And then he’s going to crumble. I wish it weren’t so.

Oswalt is sure making you and Amaro look like geniuses, Jeff. And I’m way off. This was obviously a great deal. If you want the bullpen pitching in the fourth inning every fifth day, this was the right move, you couldn’t be more on it.

Sorry. I know I’m overreacting. I just can’t tolerate this crappy play. It’s especially frustrating when Oswalt gives up hits on his slider and change, which are WAY inferior to his fastball and curveball.

Maybe I am being a jerk, but Oswalt is averaging the same number of innings per start as Jamie Moyer, the man he is basically replacing. I’ll never understand, Jeff, why Phillies fans like you (assuming you are a genuine Phillies fan) want to spend their time and energy attacking other Phillies fans.

Jimmy Rollins should be batting 6th. He has the hitting approach of a 10 year old little leaguer. Swinging at the first pitch when Stammen is struggling to find the zone makes me want to puke…it’s just stupid. He and Manuel are the Phillies version of Dumb and Dumber. Watching Rollins bat year after year is painful.

Peace, peace. Jesus Christ, the last thing I want is to fight with Phillies fans, of all people. Y’all are supposed to be my brethren. I was just expressing my opinion. I’m just frustrated and angry to see the Phillies playing so poorly and listlessly against a bad team that is looking to trade away all its best players.

Looks like the winning streak may end tonight. I would have liked to see it go to at least 10. Am i being greedy? As for Oswalt? I saw this coming, honestly. His numbers against the Nats haven’t been so great. The offense has taken the night off anyway. Bad night. He will come out and do better in his next start, no need to panic.

I don’t think they should have pitched Oswalt even if it was he’s day in the rotation. The guy had to fly from Huston to Philadelphia then on to DC and throw to a catcher he’s not familiar with. The Phillies look like they’re going back to their old was again by not being able to hit anything and making stupid misplays like throwing to third with no one there. And, why in the heck is Dobbs playing tonight? Polanco should be at third, Rollins at short and Valdez can play second. Dobbs is such a waste. Also, Werth looks terrible at the plate and Howard is 0 for seven in his last seven at bats. Scheeeeesh!!!! Come on guys … ya gotta keep playing good baseball.

Nats fans arent obnoxious yet. This is a band wagon city. The worst fans in the world IMO. Once they get good they will be very obnoxious and I thnk the nats will be good soon. this year Id rather face the Mutts even. The Mutts you know wont try. They all love the Caps now etc etc. It will get annoying when the nats contend. Washington fans will never have my repect though. But they are harmless. They just dont know sports.

Andrew, come over the Potomac, Nova Washington fans are obnoxiously annoying in a totally different way.

You are right right now they are all talking about how they think the Redskins are going to go 14-2 and make the Super Bowl. ON the Mike Wise show on 106.7 the fan he spent good part of an Hour telling everyone that the Skins were going to do that, Can’t wait to move:)

I can’t believe the Washington Nationals are kicking the Phillies ass on Roy Oswalt’s first start and third rate starting pitcher for the Nationals. Only the Phillies. And what is with Durbin lately. Oy…our bullpen needs some upgrades.

I am so frustrated with watching Amaro be a weak GM. Everyone is saying how cheap we got Oswalt and we practically stole him…but why did we even want him? We stole something we didnt want or need. Our starters were fine, we started winning games when our lineup starting hitting. What we NEEDED was a bullpen arm. The first time I even heard the Phillies were interested in Oswalt I was instantly saying no no no. We didnt need him, no body shouldve wanted him and I think a lot of people are going to be agreeing with me when October rolls around, whether were not playing, or our bullpen will be losing games.

7-1 Nats. This is incredible!!! The Nats are kicking the Phillies rear ends like they’re the ones chasing the Braves. The Phillies are at it again … with the exception of Polanco … they all look like they have no life tonight. And, I agree with ChuckS …. Dobbs needs to go!! If it wasn’t for the Phillies … he’d be playing stick ball on some dead end street with a bunch of kids and popping up .

Phillies showing that they did not mentally show up tonight. Never was one who cared much for Durbin; is serving up lollipops out there tonight. Ruizs’ error on throw to third base with nobody covering was big turning point in game; how can you throw to a base when it is not being covered? Looked like he threw without even checking for Dobbs being there. Agree with Sam who posted that it might have been too soon to throw Oswalt out there. Should have given the guy a breather, a extra day since his last start with Houston, to recover from all that he went through and had to do yesterday after being traded. Clearly was not sharp with his control. “Stinker” of a game and probably end of winning streak. Lets hope that the Reds knock off the Braves so no ground is lost tonight. I believe that Oswalt will be fine at the time of his next start.

roy’s stuff wasn’t that bad. what drives me insane are two things. one the shady bp. people talk about the back end all the time. nothing new there. was is new is the horrible middle relief. that was the one area the phillies bp always seemed to excel at. no longer. the 2nd and most important, is the poor abs. you could see them kinda slipping back into that mood last nite vs the d-backs. the home crowd prevented them from doing it all out. on the road though they’re right back at it. wtf?? it starts with Jimmy. He’s the team leader and the lead-off guy. He has a rookie in Brown watching him closely… and this dude continues to have poor abs. especially early in the game when he is supposed to be setting the tone. it’s not all his fault. but he talks so much smack in between games about setting the tone, but he rarely backs it up. drives me nuts. it’s only one game, but this game signifies what plaques this offense.

lee tried the same stunt before his 1st with Texas. The whole pick me me up at the airport routine.and he got rocked.not exacty the same with oswalt, but it wasn’t that far off. i agree. oswalt needed a little time to settle in, speak more with carlos ruiz, etc. is it me or is carlo ruiz’s location selection costing this team a great deal at times.

Ryan Howard … 0-5 last night …. 0-4 tonight …. Jimmy Rollins swings at first pitches … won’t he ever learn? Did anyone tell Durbin relief pitchers are supposed to get people out? Francisco must be taking batting tips from Dobbs. Speaking of Dobbs, he looks like crap as usual …. oppps …. he just popped up again!!! Need I say more? Winning streak has ended 8-1 … I guess we just got tired of chasing the Braves and began to play lifeless baseball again.

Roy was not ready, nats havw good numbers with him anyway, mightve been best to start him tomorrow. Hedisnt know ruiz at all either,notime to work w him.

But the offense was inexcuaably bad, except for brown. They need a rh infield bat who can cover for utley and rollins. Thats first priority to trade for now. A relief arm only after that maybe an august waiver trade.

I am loving what I’ve been reading from (formerly negative) Jeff!
You go man!
And I agree with most here, Dobbs needs to start selling ice cream. Put Ransom on third base.. He’s a righty, remembers how to hit…
This was a dud but its over. Tomorrow a new day and we are facing another unknown.. Let’s hope Cheeseburger is revved up.

I really think Oswalt was just kinda rushed into this. I mean, Cliff Lee’s first start as a Ranger he got bombed by the Orioles of all teams. Plus you can’t blame all of those runs on him (Chooch’s pathetic error) But, our offense, why can’t we hit on the road? I’m really hoping tonight was just an off-night…

dobbs is no longer an mlb talent. get’em a seat next to ricky bo.. no one expected the phils to win 25 in a row. but we do expect them to play hard and smart baseball nite in and nite out. not just when they’re backs are against the wall. They crushed this clown 2x already this season. good news reds tied it up 4-4.

In this game, the way it was played, it looked like the Nats were in second place and the Phils were last in the division.

I agree with you, repeat, and it is Manuel and Gregg Grosses’ responsibility to keep the team from sliding back into the old bad batting habits.

Had been awhile since the Phils last played Washington. Washington has a number of different players in their lineup since they last seen the Phils; Bernadina, Morgan and Kennedy. You are right, from watching the game, it looked like Ruiz had poor pitch selection/location called for these guys. It is just unbelievable that they let a guy like Kennedy hang a 4 for 5 night on them. Bad pitch to first Washington batter up tonight, Morgan, for the triple, set the tone for their team tonight.

The Phillies sportcast also thought that Roy Oswalt should have been given a day or two to settle in and become familiar with his new team before pitching. They mentioned, which most do not consider … that the guy is involved in trade talks the other day, signs with a new team, has to uproot his family, doesn’t know anyone but Brad Lidge when he gets here, is not familiar with Carlos Ruiz, had to make a trip from Huston to Philly to DC and arrived late last night. Charlie should have had more sense then to pitch him. He should have flip flopped Oswalt and Blantion. I blame Charlie for not using his head again.

These criticisms of Charlie for starting Roy tonight seem exactly correct to me. I hadn’t thought of that. I think we can all agree that Charlie’s no on-the-field tactical genius. When he gets this off-the-field stuff wrong, too, it really makes you wonder what he’s doing managing a major league ballclub.

Exactly right. SAM and bureaucratist, I wholehearted agree. This loss is on Manuel and Dubee. Blanton would have been the better selection. Has a fresher arm than Oswalt since had been out earlier in the season. Why the rush with Oswalt? Should have started him on Saturday.

When you score 1 run does it matter who starts?
Now Roy gets to get assimilatedfor 5 days. Come on everyone. You all including Charlie thought it would be easy pickings for Oswalt and the phils.
Unless one of you can point out that you thought he should have not started tonight before the game started.

It is Manuel’s lob to keep the guys motivated and not let down against teams like Washington. The Phillies players have to realize that an up and coming team like Washington is going to lay it all on the line against them out there and they need to be ready for that.

yeah mikeb, unfortunately that seems to be the case with this team. they can be very arrogant at times. only one game, but the bad habits need to addressed including fines, benchings and in-game warnings by Cholly in plain site for everyone to see. . patience is the only thing that really separates the Yank’s O from ours.

I agree with MikeB. I think the Phillies thought all they had to do was show up tonight and the Nats (a last place team) would fold. I blame Charlie for their lackadasical performance. He has to drum into the Phillies heads that every team is out to knock them off. Has anyone watched Jimmy Rollins expressions and play lately? He’s supposed to be the leader on this team and he looks and acts like he has little or no spirit at all? What’s up with that?

The nationals play us tough because they got nothing to lose,we do…their going nowhere and won’t be for at least a few more years…the phils should have rocked the guy that pitched tonight and should rock the guy they got pitchin tomorrow,but this lineup makes bad pitchers look good…like jeff of nova said earlier,most of the nats pitcher except a few are guys who should be in minor league…btw braves lead reds 6-4 10th inning now…

Atlanta my not be better than the Phils on paper but seem to have that mental toughness, an area where the Phils have their shortcomings at times. Rollins may be too over-confident at times which reflects in his actions. Needs to worry about himself, learn to work pitchers, lay off first pitches and choose better pitches to hit; like many of them need to do. Get out of the HR frame of mind and swinging for the fences. Draw walks and play some small ball when the situations call for it.

Atlanta won but Wagner is no better than Ledge maybe worse.
It will tough to over take ATL this isnt the same old sorry ass Mets. wish it was but they have already given up the ship. They did that as soon as Beltran came back.

Yeh, the last Reds hitter, Stubbs, swung and missed at what would have been ball 4. Wagner was lucky in that the Reds did not have any of their top hitters coming up to bat. Maybe tomorrow will be a different story.

bureaucratist, you said that you think Amaro took a bribe to ruin the Phillies, I said it was a bad move. You are the bad guy because you say stupid things. I had reasoning behind my argument and I explained it all, you on the other hand, did not.

Lets face it wagner is probably better than Ledge. I think Wagner sucks but the rest of the Braves pen is impressive. the Phils biggest weakness is a big strength for the Braves. I dont like it. And when the pen blows leads or gives up inherited runers or just overall sucks it does damage more than just the numbers and the loss. It does mental damage. I really wish the Phils could have gotten one or 2 of these relievers.